


"Winters Stranger" part 2

by mrgoldsdearie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-02-10 03:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2009355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrgoldsdearie/pseuds/mrgoldsdearie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After saying the night, out of the winter storm. Belle spends her first day with Rumple and Baelfire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Winters Stranger" part 2

The winter sun rises and glistens off of the blanket of fresh snow from last night’s storm. Belle wakes before Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire. She’s very thankful to them for taking her in. It was a real possibility she could have frozen to death had they not let her stay. Now she wants to show her gratitude by making them breakfast.

Belle slowly creeps out of bed, being careful not to disturb Rumple. She looks through the small cupboard in the kitchen. Inside she sees dried mutton, bones, potatoes, and a few carrots. On top of the cupboard is a small jar, which she opens to smell what’s inside. “Mmm, dried herbs,” she whispers to herself. What she finds is the only food left in the small kitchen and she doesn’t want to use everything they have. She thinks to herself and knows she could make it stretch for supper, so Belle decides to go ahead and cook for them. She’s quite pleased with what she found in the house and she quickly gets to work on cooking.

Last night’s fire had burned out hours ago, so she must start a new one. She takes a minute and tries to remember how Rumple and Baelfire started it. “Oh, oh yes!” She begins clearing the ashes and builds the fire. She struggles for an moment, but finally gets the fire rolling. Sitting by the fireplace is a stewing pot, she takes it outside, fills it with snow and sets it over the fire. Afterwards she prepares the ingredients for the stew.

At home Belle never had to cook for herself, but she had learned a few things from hanging around the kitchen.

She chops the dried meat and vegetables, then tosses them into the melted snow. She adds the dried herbs and bones, as she stirs the pot. “I really hope they like it,” she says to herself. As the stew begins to cook, Belle decides to go and check on her horse. She puts on her cloak and heads out the door.

Rumplestiltskin wakes with the aroma for stew kissing his nose. He hasn’t woken up to such a delightful smell, since Baelfire’s mother had left him. He sits up from his bed and takes ahold of his staff leaning on the wall, staggers over to the fireplace and sees the pleasant smelling stew. He’s a bit surprised by the cooking pot. No one but his son has done anything kind for him in years. Rumple limps back to Baelfire’s bed to wake him. “Bae,” he quietly says, tapping his son on the shoulder.

Baelfire moves around in his blanket, but doesn’t wake.

"Bae, wake up." He shoves him a little harder.

Baelfire slowly open his eyes and yawns. “Okay papa,” he moans sits up and rubbing his eyes. He notices the aroma of food in the air. “What’s that smell?”

Rumple smiles at his precious boy. “She made us breakfast son.”

"She did?" Baelfire rolls out of bed and sees the pot cooking over the fire. "She did." He smiles. "Where did she go? What’s her name papa?"

"I don’t know where she went, but I do know her name. It’s Belle."

"That’s a pretty name," Baelfire replies.

Rumple smiles, “Yes, I know. I don’t think she left, you get dressed and we’ll wait for her to come back.”

"Yes papa." He hurries to change his cloths.

Rumple changes into another set of homemade rags, afterwards he shuffles back to the fireplace and stirs the pot.

The door opens and Belle walks into the small house. “Good morning.” She smiles at Rumple.

"Good morning," he replies.

"You stirred the stew for me, thank you Rumplestiltskin."

"You can call him Rumple," Baelfire yells from his bedside, slipping on his shirt.

"I didn’t see you over there, good morning Bae," she giggles.

"Morning," Baelfire replies, running over to the fireplace and stands by his father.

"I was just out checking on Phillipe." Belle looks at Baelfire. "You did a great job taking care of him for me." She kindly smiles at him.

"You’re welcome," Baelfire replies.

"I think the stew will be ready soon. I know it was the only food you had in the house. I hope it was okay that I cooked it."

"It’s alright Belle," Rumple assures her. "We were going to eat it anyways, right Bae?"

Baelfire smiles and shakes his head to agree.

Belle is relieved to know that she didn’t ruin any plains they may have had with the food. “Well, I’ll make some tea and then we can eat soon.”

Rumple turns to his son placing his hand on Baelfire’s shoulder. “You go check up on the sheep and after we eat, I’ll give you that spinning lesson.”

"Alright," Baelfire says and goes to put on his cloak.

"Keep your hood on son."

"Yes papa." He heads out of the door.

"Bae was excited to see that you were cooking. I think he gets tired of my cooking sometimes." Rumple nervously smiles.

"I’m sure he loves your cooking." She stirs the pot of stew, sweeping her hand over the steam to smell the aroma. She gazes up at Rumplestiltskin and notices the shy expression on his face, as he looking down at the floor. "You seem like a really good father to the boy. I can tell he loves you a lot." Belle tries to put a smile on his face and in that moment, she thinks about her own relationship with her father. "My papa …. well." She pauses and stands next to Rumple. "My papa …. well he." Belle pauses again.

Rumple knows the pain of an abusive father all to well. He’s own father was neglectful, before he eventually abandoned him to be raised by spinsters. “You don’t have to talk about it, I understand.” He sits at the stool still by the fireplace. “And thank you for the kind words, I do everything I can for my son. I don’t know what I’ll do if anything ever happened to him, he’s my life.”

Belle could feel the emotion in his words. Rumple loves his son, probably more than his own existence. She only wishes her father loved her, the same way Rumple adores his son. Belle knows her father loves her in his own controlling way. It just all became too much and she needed to get away from his overbearing grip.

Belle kneels down beside Rumple and takes him by the hand.

Rumple is surprised when she touches him. No one in the village cared to even talk to him, but here she is holding his hand. Everyone he knew always looked down on him for his actions that day on the battle field. Crippling himself to get home to his wife and son, no one would ever let him live it down. But in this instant with Belle holding his hand and looking into his eyes, it’s the most amazing feeling. She makes him feel like a person, not the beaten down shell everyone else saw. Rumple haven’t felt like a human in years.

Baelfire rushes into the house, returning from his chore.

Belle quickly removes her hand and scoots a few inches away from Rumple.

"All the sheep are fine papa," Baelfire closes he door.

"Thank you son." He clears his throat. "We’ll go feed them later."

"Umm well, I think the stew is just about ready. The only thing left is to make the tea." She quickly stands from the floor, gets the kettle from the table and heads outside to fill it with snow. While gathering the snow Belle sees riders carrying her father’s flag on their horses, she knows that their looking for her. Quickly she hides behind a tree, as they pass the small hovel. Belle peeks around to make sure they have completely passed. When she’s sure that there gone, she hurries back into the house, slams the door behind her and the small house rattles. Belle stairs at Rumple and Baelfire, as she catches her breath.

"Are you alright Belle?" Rumple asks, setting out the wool for Baelfire’s spinning lesson.

She breaths heavily. “Yes, I’m fine. I should have put my cloak on, it’s extremely cold outside.” She quickly covers her actions and begins making the tea. She calms herself and set the kettle over the fire. When it boils, she adds the last bit of tea leaves leftover from the night before. The fragrance of tea and stew fills the house. “Well, the tea is ready, let’s have a seat at the table.”

Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire clear the table and take their seat.

"Would you like me to help you?" Baelfire asks.

"No, but thank you. This is a way for me to show how grateful I am to you and your papa for letting me stay here last night." She sets a bowl in front of Baelfire and Rumple, then makes a bowl for herself. She grabs the tea kettle and takes a seat at the table next to Rumple. "I really hope you like it."

Rumple takes his first taste, glances at Belle and smiles. “It’s lovely.”

Belle blushes a little and begins eating her stew.

By the time Belle took her fist bite, Baelfire is almost finished with his bowl, he rushes to get to his spinning lesson.

"Slow down son, you don’t want to choke."

He stops from shoveling the stew in his mouth. “Okay, I’m sorry papa.”

Rumple laughs to himself. “It’s alright, the spinning wheels not going anywhere Bae.”

The table falls silent for a moment, before Belle pours the tea.

"Belle?" Baelfire quietly asks.

"Yes Bae?"

"What are you going to do after breakfast? You’re not leaving, are you?

"Bae." Rumple looks at his son. "It’s not your business to ask her that. If she has to leave, she’s welcome to do so."

"I just like her papa, she’s nice to us." Baelfire looks at Belle across the table. "I’m sorry Belle."

"No need to apologize Bae." She pause and thinks about the riders she saw from her village. "Actually, I was going to ask you’re papa if I could stay a little longer. The snow is still on the ground and I really don’t have anywhere else to go. You don’t mind, do you Rumple?"

Rumple quietly answers, “I really don’t mind and you’ve been a great help to us so far. You can stay as long as you wish Belle.”

She takes his hand firmly. “Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

Rumple tries to hides the small smile that lit upon his face when she touched him again, but Belle saw it for the instant.

She slides her hand away from him. “Are you finished with your stew?” she quickly asks Baelfire.

He shakes his head to agree.

"And you, Rumple?" she adds.

"Yes I am."

She removes the bowl from the table and takes what remains inside them back to the stewing pot. She saves what’s is left for supper.

Rumple turns to Baelfire. “We’ll go feed the sheep first, then we’ll start your lesson. Okay son?”

"Alright."

"Go put your cloak on." Rumple moves from the table, as Baelfire gets into his cloak. He hobbles over to Belle trying to lower the fire under the stew.

She stands up next to him.

"I have some clothes I made for Baelfire’s mother, she died before I finished them. You’re welcome to wear them."

"I can’t do that, they were your wife’s."

"She never wore them," he softly says.

"You won’t mind?"

"No, I don’t mind." He points to where she can find the dresses. "We’re going out to feed the sheep, it’ll give you some privacy to change."

"Thank you Rumplestiltskin. I didn’t take many clothes with me when I left. Most of them weren’t appropriate for traveling on the road."

"You’re welcome." He walks to the door, puts on his cloak and meets up with his son.

Belle goes over to the small chest by Rumple’s bed and opens it, pulling out the dress on top. It’s a well-made and beautiful dress, despite the fact that it’s made from rags. Rumple is a master at his craft. She takes off her more decorative dress and quickly changes into the simple handmade dress, that surprisingly fit her perfectly. Afterwards she heads outs to meet up with Rumple and Baelfire. She swings her cloak around her shoulders before peering outside. The last thing she wants is to be found by the riders. Going back home is not an option for Belle. The road is clear and she steps outside.

"Make sure you save enough for Phillipe," Rumple says, as Belle walks to the shed.

She goes to her horse and removes the small cart he was pulling.

Rumple stands by Phillipe and pets him. “You can take anything you’ll need into the house.”

"It isn’t much anymore. I ate most of the food the first days after I left home. It’s just this another dress, a loaf of bread, a bit of cheese and this blanket I used to sleep in the cart. My satchel is already in the house."

"Even though it isn’t much, you should still take it in."

"I will," she replies.

Rumple shyly looks down. “I should to let you know, since you’ll be here awhile, people like to talk. No ones really respects us around here, well … respects me.”

She steps closer to him. “I don’t care what people think. Why would anyone say anything about you, except that you’re a kind man who loves his son.”

A half smile sweeps on his face. Rumple is taken aback by her words. He knows she doesn’t see him the way everyone does, but to hear her say it again is still surprising. “Well, I guess I made Bae wait long enough.” He turns and goes to Baelfire. “Let’s go have that lesson son.”

Baelfire runs to his father with the rest of the hay.

"Give that to Phillipe," Rumple says and starts heading back to the house.

Baelfire goes to feed the horse, but Belle stops him.

"I can feed him Bae, go have your lesson with your papa."

He looks at her with the brightest eyes. “Thank you.” And runs after his father.

Belle feeds her horse as they walk to the house. She looks back to see if they’ve made it inside and is astonished to find that they’ve been stopped by one of the riders. “Shit!,” she says to herself and swiftly hides in her cart.

Rumple sends Baelfire into the house and talks to the rider alone.

Belle glimpse over the cart to watch.

The rider hands Rumple a sheet of paper and rides off on his horse.

She hastily exits the cart and rushes over to Rumple. “Rumple?” she says loudly and out if breath.

"Belle, you startled me."

"Are you alright?" she asks.

"Yes, yes I’m fine Belle."

"I saw you talking to that rider," she says nervously.

He hands her the paper. “They’re looking for you Belle, you’re a princess and you ran away?”

Belle reads over the paper, her father has set up a reward for anyone who find her. “Yes,” she silently answers. “But I can’t go back, I’m a prisoner there. My papa doesn’t care about me, he just wants to keep me locked away. Please, please don’t turn me in,” she pleads.

"If I was going it do that, you wouldn’t be here right now. I could tell when you talked about home, you didn’t want to go back. Why would I make someone go somewhere they don’t want to be?"

Belle hugs him so fast, she knocks the staff out of his hand. “Oh, thank you Rumplestiltskin.” She kisses his cheek.

He smiles and hugs her back. “You should stay inside for a while. This is probably the best place for you, who would ever believe that you’re hiding at Rumplestiltskin’s house.”

She picks up his staff and they walk to the house together. She stops and stands in front of the door. “Are you going to tell Bae?”

"I don’t think we have to tell him."

Belle sighs in relief. She feels better after getting this weight off of her shoulders. Rumple is kinder then she had ever thought. Her freedom is indebted to him and she feels she must pay him back. “Thank you again, you’re a very kindhearted man.” She opens the door for him and she walks in behind him.

"I’m so sorry Bae, let’s get started on that spinning lesson." He takes the stool by the fireplace, sits it next to the spinning wheel and takes a seat.

Baelfire stands by his father eager to learn.

"I know you’ve seen me spin many times, but I want you to watch closely first and then I’ll let you try."

"Yes papa," Baelfire replies.

Belle sits at the table and watches Rumple teach his son. She takes a moment to take in how simple their life is. Even though their poor and have next to nothing, Rumple and Baelfire seem happy together. It comes to her mind that she can help make their life a little easier. She takes her satchel from the floor and looks through it. She pulls out the small bag of jewelry she had quickly grabbed before leaving the palace. Belle had taken the jewelry in case she had to sell them for food or a place to stay. Now that she’s staying with Rumple, she has no use for them.

"You’re doing a great job son," Rumple says proudly. "Keep spinning." He takes a seat next to Belle to watch his son.

"Rumple," she whispers and scoots her chair closer to him.

"Yes Belle," he softly answers.

"I have something for you." She places the bag in his hand.

He opens the bag, sees the jewelry and immediately closes it. “I can’t take this,” he whispers, giving it back to her.

"Why not? I want you the have them, you could even sell them if you want."

"If anyone sees me with these, they’ll know that you’re here. They wouldn’t believe any story I told them on how I got the jewelry. It’s best that you keep them, besides I wouldn’t want to take anything away from you."

She closes her eyes and shakes her head, putting the small bag back into her satchel. “Why do the people of this village have so much disrespect for you?”

"Its cause of what I did during the war."

"What you do?" she asks.

Rumple closes his eyes and sighs. “I injured myself so I would get sent home, I would have died on that battle field. I found out that I was going to be a father and doing this.” He looks down at his ankle. “Was the only way to make sure I would get home to my wife and child.”

Belle places her hand on his knee.

"They called me a coward ever since I came home, but I don’t regret doing it. My son would have grew up without a father."

Belle look into his eyes. “I don’t think that was a cowardly thing to do. You wanted to be there for your son. If you would have died, Bae wouldn’t have anyone taking care of him right now.”

"No one’s ever told me that before." He puts his hand on hers.

"Not even your wife?"

Rumple looks down at there hands. “No, not even my wife,” he quietly says. Still unable to talk about the day his wife left him and not wanting to reveal the truth. Rumple moves Belle’s hand back to her lap and goes to check on Baelfire’s spinning.

Belle feels compassion for Rumplestiltskin. She’s never met someone so broken, though he has his son, she can tell there’s something missing inside him. Belle thought the life she escaped was horrible, but it’s was nothing compared to what Rumple has lived through. His wife being ashamed of the choice he had made was truly devastating to Belle. Even though he didn’t take her jewelry, she still whats to help him anyway she can.

Belle already adores Baelfire and Rumple. She feels comfortable and free with them, something she’s almost never felt in her father palace. As the day moves on Rumple and Baelfire spend the evening listening to Belle read from her book, adventures of traveling the world are the kind if stories in her favorite book.

After reading and eating the leftover stew for supper. Belle lowers the fire under the pot to save the rest for tomorrow.

Rumple helps his son prepare for bed.

"Goodnight papa." Baefire rests his head on the pillow.

"Goodnight my beautiful boy." Rumple kisses his forehead and covers the blanket over his son. He stand over the bed and watches him fall asleep. Only after hearing the heavy breathing of a deep sleep, Rumple limps over to the fireplace and sits on the stool by Belle.

They sit quietly gazing into the low flames of the fire, enjoying each other’s company in a comfortable silents. Belle looks at Rumple and smiles “I can’t remember the last time I’ve had an evening like this.” She breaks the silents.

"Some days may not be easy, like the one we had today, but evenings are always like this for us."

"I don’t care how hard the day may be, if I can end it every night like this, I’d be a happy woman," she says.

"It’s nice to have someone with me again, after Bae falls asleep."

"What would you be doing right now if I wasn’t here?" she curiously asks.

"Spinning at the wheel," he softly answers and stands from the stool. "I’m a little tired, but you’re more than welcome to say up as long as you wish."

"I don’t think I want to stay up alone." She stands from the floor.

"I understand." He walks to the bed and lays down, scooting his back close to the wall.

She lays down beside him looking up at the ceiling.

"Belle," he whispers."

She turns her hand to face him. “Yes Rumple?”

"I hope you don’t mind that I sleep this way tonight. My ankle started to hurt when I was facing the wall."

"I don’t mind Rumple. I wouldn’t want you to hurt all night."

"Thank you." He grins and closes his eyes. "Goodnight Belle," he mutters.

"Night Rumple." She softly moves the hair out of his face, he never notices that she even touched him. She turns her head and stairs back at the ceiling, thinking about her day. How Rumple saved her from being taking home. What he did was the most selfless thing she has ever saw. There’s more to Rumple then a simple spinner and it’s heartbreaking to her to know that he doesn’t see more in himself. Belle drifts to sleep looking forward to her new life with Rumple and Baelfire.


End file.
